In an act of absolute ambivalence or premeditated gamesmanship, Houston sent Nick Johnson to shake Stephen Curry’s hand at the captains’ ceremonial meeting before tip-off of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
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Curry was rightfully pissed. Johnson doesn’t see the court for the Rockets, and even if Houston sent Corey Brewer or Josh Smith, it meant the Rockets weren’t sending James Harden or Dwight Howard — the best players on the team — to shake hands with their All-NBA adversary.
Five days later, Golden State is up 3-0 over Houston with a chance to sweep into the NBA Finals on Monday.
This could have been an interesting series. Houston displayed another gear or two in its improbable comeback against Los Angeles in round two. The relentless attack of the Rockets’ ensemble of arms and legs overwhelmed the Clippers. Golden State chokes teams out with its position-less switching defensive style, but if Houston could have made enough 3-pointers in a Harden drive-and-kick magnum opus, the Rockets would have forced the Warriors to change out of their preferred defensive wardrobe.
Three games are in the books, and Golden State has reduced the Harden pick-and-roll to mush. Zach Lowe broke down the Harden numbers through Game 2 — when, it should be noted, Houston was competitive in both games — and found the Warriors had shoved Harden into the Daryl Morey no-no zone: 23 of his first 41 shots this series (56 percent) were long 2s. Zach also found that the Rockets had hoisted 23 long-paint shots per game in Games 1 and 2, which would have led the NBA; Houston was 9-for-20 on these shots on Saturday.
To be clear, Houston hasn’t been a great shooting team this season — the Rockets are, instead, a team that takes great shots. However, Golden State has taken away their favorite places to shoot on the floor: the restricted area (58.4 percent), corner threes (33 percent), and above-the-break threes (26.9 percent — shield your eyes!). The result has been an overreliance on mid-range jumpers and long twos (37 percent of total FGAs) that has completely taken Houston of its element offensively.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Golden State’s defense under coach Steve Kerr has been dominant from Day One. On Saturday it was the Warriors’ offense, however, that kissed the sky. They were 11-for-28 from deep, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the left corner. Golden State assisted on 26 of its 44 field goals, including eight threes.
Houston badly misses Patrick Beverley, and the Rockets’ inability to check Curry one-on-one has forced them to leverage the damage by switching all Curry pick-and-rolls — leaving poor Terrence Jones and Clint Capela standing between the city of Houston and a tidal wave of jumpers.
What could have provided Houston with a useful boost this series was its inherent rebounding advantage. The Rockets are generally taller and stronger than the Warriors, and Dwight Howard will almost always be the premier physical specimen, injury-plaugued or not, in any series he plays.
In 15 games this postseason, Howard has the highest total rebounding percentage (22.3) of any player. This makes sense, because Houston falls apart on the glass whenever Howard sits — dropping from a 51.5 team rebounding percentage to 46.9.
Against Golden State, though, Howard has not given Houston a rebounding advantage. The Rockets are rebounding at 49.7 percent with Howard on the floor, a push. When Howard sits, oh man, does it get ugly — Houston throws up a disastrous 40.7 rebounding clip, seven percentage points worse than Dallas’ league-low rate during the season, per NBA.com.
This was all on display on Saturday when Steph Curry perfectly placed his miniature tookus into Howard and scaled him for an offensive rebound.
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Curry had three offensive rebounds on Saturday. Houston, as a team, had nine, and the Warriors out-rebounded the Rockets, 60-39. For the Crossover Chronicles West Finals roundtable, I noted that the singular advantage Houston needed to stay competitive against Golden State was on the glass. There are no excuses for the Rockets’ poor play on the boards through three losses.
Houston is going to lose this series — it’s a matter of “when,” not “if.” Whether or not the Rockets can shore up these fatal flaws before their (probable) last home game of the season is the question.
The Rockets, now more than ever, need their “captains” to take command and meet MVP Steph Curry on the court.
